Uncommonly Common

Recently, I have been re-reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I'm not sure if I've said this before, but it is one of those reads that you need to re-read, over and over again throughout your life. It is so packed full of Holy Spirit, gifted, insight that you cannot even hope to take even a portion of it in, in just one reading. How I wish my insight and thoughts would run that deep! A couple of days ago I read the following. I have been pondering it since then.

"We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the common place something that is inspiring."

At first I thought. "What?" Then I read it over a couple of times more. I began to ask myself. "What is something in life that I have found inspiring in the midst of the common, daily events of life?" It took me a little while to find something, and then like a waterfall it all came pouring down over me. The first thought that took over my mind, was that of a dew drops on a blade of grass.



Be sure to notice the reflections in the dew drops!

My husband and I own a little piece of property in the country. I love to drive out there, in the early morning and enjoy the dew sparking, on the grass, as the sun rises in the sky. It is a breathtaking sight. If you don't mind getting your sneakers wet, you can walk into the high grass and see dew drops on the individual blades of grass. If you don't mind getting all of you wet, you can look closer and see tiny reflections and rainbows in those shiny little drops of dew. It is amazing! Dew drops are common enough. They happen just about every morning, but looking closer you get a glimpse of the inspiring picture of the beauty of God's creation in that common, tiny droplet.

Don't you just want to be here sitting in an Adirondack chair, reading God's word,
wearing a soft polar fleece jacket and enjoying a mug of hot coffee?
What an inspiring way to start the day!

Well, then the waterfall happened. Ideas of the uncommonly common started pouring into my mind. What about morning? Morning happens...well... every morning. That may seem common, but really it can be pretty inspiring if you are up to view it. How about the sun shining? That happens regularly, but what happens when it reflects on a peaceful lake, or reflects on the bright hues of autumn leaves? What about babies? Commonly, they are born everyday, but each one is inspiringly different, equipped with his or her own character traits, quirks, likes and dislikes. How about a seed that has fallen to the ground, seemingly discarded from the branches of a tree. It's a common occurrence, but what about the tree that grows where the seed fell?

What about Jesus?

Jesus was born as a poor, common infant, to poor common people, in a poor common stable. He became common, to do the most inspiring, uncommon thing in all of history...dying for our sins. It seems to me that God enjoys hiding inspiring treasures in those things that seem very common to us.

I wonder....
How many inspiring treasures from God we miss, when we consider something common and not worth our time?  How many inspiring views have I missed? How many inspiring people have I overlooked? How many missed opportunities?

I have come to the conclusion that there is something uncommon about the common.

God works there. He sent His son to work there.
I want to work there too.

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten, from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14